Day 35: What You See is What You Give
“So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. “ 2 Corinthians 9:5-7 This passage from Paul describes how to give and how not to give. We are to give generously, not grudgingly; bountifully, not sparingly; and cheerfully, not reluctantly or under compulsion. In this description, Paul tells us that the essence of what makes our giving “bad” is that we give with a desire to hold back. The real feeling of that kind of heart is not to think of how much we can give, but how much we can keep back. Paul says that is how not to give. On the positive side, though, we are to give “generously” or “bountifully.” Those words have a literal meaning in the Greek to give on the basis of blessing. Our giving should rest upon the great truth that God is a God who generously blesses and our giving in turn should be a generous blessing to others. It is giving from a heart that wants to share things as much as possible rather than keep as much as possible. It’s as though there was a magnet in our souls that used to be turned so that it pulled possessions into itself, and now something has happened to turn it around to the other pole so that it pushes things out toward others. What makes the difference between those two hearts? It’s how each heart sees God. The sparing heart has a relationship with God that sees Him as a Taker rather than a Giver. If every time we look up and see the pointing finger of God demanding, “Give Me! Give me! Give me!” how can we look back down at the needs of the world and say “Take me: I will gladly spend and be spent for your good?” Oh, we may give something, but it comes out as a draining, life-depleting, exhausting and sparing gift. But what a difference between this gift and the gift that flows from a heart that has a relationship with God that sees Him as a Giver rather than a Taker. This heart sees God as the great Giver, Fountain and Father, flowing in with ever-replenishing blessing and grace and hope! As a result, what this heart sees when it looks at the needs of the world is a free, internal impulse to give and share. So, how do you see God? Paul challenges us to see Him as the One who “supplies seed to the sower and bread for food” and who makes you “rich in every way so that you can be generous.”